Hey all,
People have been telling me to update this thing for some time now, and now I think I have something to write about the time feels right to bring this blog back...
So, it's been 8 months since I last posted something. So much has happened! In no particular order, I have:
- become a DJ (though some may dispute this)
- turned 21 (!)
- quit Stature::Statue
- took 6 months off from uni and returned last month full time
- discovered JUSTICE ✟
- formed a new band
- been photographed in public
- and a whole bunch of tears and controversies brought by various people
Indeed I have done much in my time away from this here blog, but I'll try and intersperse events from the past 8 months into current entries in some relevant contextual manner. I hope.
I'd like to firstly draw attention to some other blogs that I follow and greatly admire in terms of the work they do. Firstly is Jacob Lambert's photography ( http://jacoblambert.blogspot.com/). Jacob has only been into photography for a year, being a total novice when he began. The work he's done on that site and for various patrons (the esteemed getanightlifemaaaattteeee included) is incredible, or at least I think so. I like the way he sees and captures things, his use of light to humble the subjects he photographs, whether they be landscapes, people or animals, is very organic and his photos never cease to catch my eye and imagination.
Keep in mind I am not aficionado on the art of photography, but I think there lies the beauty of Jacob's work. You don't have to be to appreciate the authenticity and substance of his photographs, many of which depict experiences shared between himself and his closest friends and the places and scenarios in which they take place. I won't say too much more as you really do need to see these photos for yourself, but I will say that the fact that he's had no prior experience in photography outside one year ago is astounding, and so refreshing when someone is both passionate about what they do, as well as being really fucking good at it. I'll post up some of Jacob's stuff a little bit later on which will tie in nicely with the subject of my new band.....
The other blog I would like to draw attention to is Turn it Up! (turnitupto10.blogspot.com/). Essentially, a library of one man's concert experiences, accurately recorded through in-ear microphones, documenting concerts from Rosie's on a Thursday night to the Primavera Sound Festival in Spain. Some absolute gems in there, and seeing as I write enough about music, I'll leave you to check it out.
Onto other matters. My departure from Stature::Statue was as controversial as it was necessary, after about 18 months of hard work from everyone and no release and endless delays, I finally decided that I'd rather do things that warranted my time and energy proportionate to how much fun I was getting out of it. This is not at all to speak ill of my bandmates, with whom I've shared many many hours and experiences, all of which I dearly cherish but no less also contributed to my eventual decision.
Having made that decision though, I have gained a new perspective on what I feel it means to play in a band, be creative and be successful. I've decided that doing it for fun is the best way to express yourself and not to be concerned so much with the indie pop culture in terms of creating the music for a purpose any other than enjoyment. However, with this paradigm you run the risk of developing tall-poppy syndrome when acts other than yours achieve greater success while having a perceived lack of talent/ability/style or the plain fact you don't like their sound and you believe you deserve it more than they do.
Deserving it, however, couldn't have less to do with it. Far be it from my place to name who I think does and does not deserve success of the generally understood sort (JJJ airplay, contract, touring, merch), I only write to illustrate how trivial it really is. It doesn't matter. I wouldn't call my new band THE SUPER ELECTRIC TRIO OF DOOM if I gave a shit, would I? That name is a calling card of a person who clearly has very little pop sensibility and wants to keep it that way. For this group, I sought out two other musicians who are superior (in my mind) both technically and musically to myself, got some basic ideas together, and jammed out. To me, it's been great for my playing technically and musically, and I can easily finish a song or session and know that I've expressed myself to the utmost extent in a manner appropriate to the music that was being played. That is a very satisfying thing, something that you can't always get from playing a set of radio-friendly singles in the vain hope of capturing the trendy audience's ear.
And to simply express my view, fuck that.
Why bother? I would sincerely hope that as a musician I am worth more time and attention than 3 minutes on Triple J (maybe not...?), and as such I have gone off the idea of truncating musical ideas and exploration through improvisation. But this perspective does have some merit when you consider that bands can spend thousands of dollars and hours on releasing music, touring, driving, lifting equipment and just the amount of pure mental work it requires to be consistently creative for a commercial purpose. Most of all those things are spent in vain with very little artistic fulfilment (or so I would argue), but of course no one listens to music made by musicians for musicians, so basically it's all pointless. Time to find a new hobby? Perhaps.
But I gave up on the idea of pleasing most people some time ago, I'm constantly validated in my non-interest by simply catching public transport, talking to punters, listening to the radio or reading promotion material on facebook. It's literally all shit, all sounds the same, made for the same people who spend the same stupid amount of money on the same festivals every year. Snore.
Anyway, enough of my ranting. My new group is actually really good. Probably better than your band. We've only been together a month and I literally couldn't be happier. Check us out at
http://www.myspace.com/se3od
or
The name is staying.
Download our recordings here: http://www.mediafire.com/?mzwm4yicz5h
and here: http://www.mediafire.com/?mnoyhmymnnm
and here: http://www.mediafire.com/?mnoyhmymnnm
And as promised, some wonderful photos of the group at a recording session on 20/03/2010. Neal on bass, Eddy on guitar/keys and myself on drums. Thanks to Peter Hüttenmeister for recording us, though I did dirty them up a bit afterwards... Enjoy!
